Til Death Do We Part
by Jael73
Summary: Set with my literary alter-ego. How else was I to meet Ducky? Exploring Ducky's tendancy to date criminals. :D
1. Chapter 1

Ducky was in a very happy mood most days. His relationship with Susan Burke, a biologist/widow that he had met through mutual friends, was nothing short of truly wonderful.

They had been dating for three months now, and Ducky was considering asking her to move in. While she was personally very wealthy from her work on poisonous secretions and her late husband's life insurance policy, their home had been only of modest size.

The lab phone rang. Mr. Palmer, his assistant, answered it. "Autopsy," he said crisply. He nodded. "The address?" he asked, flipping out a notepad. "We're on our way, Agent Gibbs," he confirmed as he hung up the phone. Palmer looked up at Ducky. "Dead lieutenant found in her home," he said.

Ducky's mood subsided a bit. "Well, let's get to it, then," he said, taking his coat and off the rack.

The team secured the area. It was actually an apartment in a fairly nice section of town. Ducky and Palmer got there a few minutes later, as the team was taking a statement from the apartment manager, who had reported the body, to find out who she was. No one touched the body until Ducky had had a chance to examine it, not even to look for ID.

"Lori Diamond," the apartment manager informed them. "She's been here about two years now."

"Kind of a bit nicer than what a lieutenant can afford, isn't it?" Gibbs asked.

The manager put up his hands. "Hey, I don't ask those kind of questions. All I know was that she said she had a rich boyfriend."

"Baby?" Four pairs of eyes glared at him.

"Yea, she has a baby. I took it over to the neighbor's when I found her like that," he explained.

"Why did you open the door?" Gibbs asked again.

"Her mail hadn't been picked up for a couple of days, and all the tenants tell me when they're going on vacation or something," he said. "I was worried."

Gibbs nodded and left him to Ziva. He walked over to where Ducky was on his knees.

"Anything interesting, Duck?"

"Yes, I'd say so, Jethro," Ducky replied enthusiastically. "There are no wounds other than a few cuts as the poor girl hit the floor. From the number of them, however, I'd say she thrashed around a bit. We'll have to make a tox screen a priority, and I most likely will not be able to determine the cause of death until I perform the autopsy, but I'm rather sure that it was not a pain-free death."

"She had a baby. It's at the neighbors."

"Then one might have the tad checked out as soon as possible, in case whatever it was that killed the mother also has affected the child."

Gibbs nodded his agreement. Ziva walked over. "Boss, the manager remembered a name that Lieutenant Diamond mentioned as being the baby's father. A Danny Burke."

The name made Ducky's head jerk up. Gibbs noticed. "Know him, Ducky?"

"No, not exactly…" Ducky said vaguely. He turned to Palmer. "Keep her here for a moment, Mr. Palmer, while I make a phone call."

"Yes, Dr. Mallard." Jimmy said, a little disappointed.

Ducky walked off to the side and pulled out his cell phone. "Susan, I need you to come over to the west side right away. There's been an accident."

Susan got out of her car at the Carrington Apartments. Ducky's voice had been indescribable, and she hadn't asked any questions. The team, all of which she had met several times, was waiting for her.

"This way, Dr. Burke," Gibbs guided her to one of the apartments.

"What is this all about?" Susan asked as she went through the door. She winced as she saw a woman lying on the floor, clearly dead. Ducky was standing over her, looking at Susan's reaction.

"Do you know her, Susan?" Ducky said quietly, but with a hardness to his voice that made Susan look at him, startled.

"No, should I?"

Ziva walked in with a six-month old baby. Susan gasped with recognition that she lacked with the mother. Those eyes had lied to her for over 20 years.

She looked over at Ducky, pain and desperation on her face pleading with him to tell her that what she knew in her heart wasn't true.

"This is Daniel Burke's child, Susan," he said.


	2. Chapter 2

Fate had seemed to take a part in Ducky meeting Susan. Daniel, Susan's late husband, had to die first. Susan had fell into a deep depression that had lasted for almost a year. Not that she was morning her husband, however. She had found out that he had been having an affair the day he died, and had fathered a child. Susan had never contacted the other woman, though she did wonder if "Barbie" (the name Susan had given the other woman) would ever try to claim part of Daniel's estate for the child.

Susan's friends had started to worry about her. Which is why Ducky got a call in the lab about three months ago.

"Ducky, it's Avery Wilson."

"Avery! Hello! How's business at the hospital?"

"Brisk. But that's not why I called. I have a bit of a favor to ask. It's personal."

"Well, Avery, I'll do my best."

"Susan Burke. Ever heard of her?"

Ducky thought for a moment. "The name sounds somehow familiar, but I can't quite place it."

"She's a biologist. Does work on venoms. Anyway, she's a good friend of mine. He husband died last March. A real bastard. No one liked the guy, but you never get to pick who you friends marry. Or at least almost never," Avery went on.

"I'm sorry, I'm not following you, Avery," Ducky said a little puzzled.

"Well, to be honest, Ducky, I've always thought you and Susan would hit it off. Of course, I didn't say anything to Susan, but now that Daniel's gone…"

"What do you have planned, Avery?" Ducky sounded guarded, knowing that his friend was trying to set him up, like so many of his other friends had tried.

"Well, I was thinking of a night at the Palomino with some friends. That way it might be a little easier on her. And on you, too," Avery added quickly, but the admission that Avery was more concerned about Susan than Ducky actually made Ducky relax a bit. Avery was just trying to be kind.

And he hadn't been to the Palomino in years. "Does Susan dance?" Ducky asked.

Avery smiled. He had him. "Why yes, yes she does, in fact."

NCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCIS

The hospital had given little Dawniel, the name Lt. Diamond had given Daniel's child, a clean bill of health. Ducky had come over to the hospital after having loaded the Lt.'s body into the van and instructing Mr. Palmer to prep it for autopsy. Jimmy had bounced with joy at being given so much responsibility.

Susan was speaking quietly to a CPS agent when Ducky found her, cradling Dawniel in her arms. "Please let me know if you find grandparents or anyone else more appropriate as soon as possible," Susan said not unkindly.

"Of course. Thank you for taking Dawniel in, Dr. Burke," the agent smiled sadly. "I can imagine how hard this must be for you."

The agent nodded at Ducky and walked away. Ducky leaned over the baby to kiss Susan's cheek.

"Are you sure about this, my dear?" Ducky asked.

"No, I'm not," Susan replied. A tear escaped and slide down her cheek. "But it seems like the right thing to do."

Ducky nodded. "I will need to return to the lab for the autopsy on Lt. Diamond. But I want you to go straight to my house. I'll call ahead and have Sarah go fetch a few things for the baby. It will be much easier on you." He had hired a maid after putting Mother in a home. They had not been able to have servants since her mental state had required a full-time nurse: it would have been too hard on any servant to have to explain every day why they were there to a woman not inclined to believe them.

"Ducky, are you sure?" she returned his question.

"I've been meaning to ask you. Yes, I am quite sure," he said with a smile as he kissed her again.


	3. Chapter 3

The odd part was, Ducky and Susan seemed to have all the same friends, and yet had never met. Joanna and David Stewart were old acquaintances from many shared medical conferences. As if their friends had done it deliberately….

"SueAnn, this is Donald Mallard. Ducky, this is Susan Burke."

Susan smiled somewhat shyly. "I'm very glad to meet you, Dr. Mallard," she said simply.

Ducky, please, my dear. All my friends call me Ducky."

She nodded with a shy smile, accepting the implied friendship. "Ducky."

He felt himself grinning broadly. Jordan had refused to call him Ducky, feeling it was somehow undignified. Susan was wearing a deep red evening dress that matched her black hair and emerald eyes perfectly. It was all simply, but elegant in a way that most woman were not anymore. Ducky found himself looking forward to getting to know her better.

Dinner was perfect. Susan seemed to be a little nervous at first, but when she realized that Ducky was not going to insist on anything more than light conversation, she seemed to relax.

Donald Mallard had a boyish smile that warmed her right to her toes. And witty! With a self-depreciating laugh, he had stopped a tale about a safari to Africa with his mother years ago as he noticed his friend's eyes glazing over. "I do have a tendency to jabber on a wee bit," he chuckled over his scotch, neat. She had laughed outright at this, sure that his story would have been anything but boring. She hadn't laughed like that in a long time.

While she wasn't what Mr. Dinozzo would call gorgeous, Susan had an old-fashioned air of wisdom and wit about her with a splash of sarcasm that he found very attractive. Her dazzling emerald eyes made him homesick. This was a woman he wouldn't mind having a drink or two with, he thought, and then sitting with long into the night, talking about anything that came to mind. He had always loved having conversation with women: men seemed somehow always ready to start a fight. His friendship with Jethro was a rare one.

The violins struck up another song a little louder, calling couples to the floor. Susan gazed over at them.

"Would you care to dance, my dear?" Ducky asked.

Susan almost swallowed her tongue. Daniel had always thought dancing a bit silly. With her friends nodding encouragement, she let Ducky guide her to the dance floor.

Susan's slight 5"2' frame usually required her to crane her neck if she ever wanted to look someone in the eye. Ducky, at 5"7' was a short man, but not horribly so; they seemed to be made for dancing partners.

They stayed on the dance floor for more than an hour, captivated by the music and each other. Conversation seemed unnecessary.

Ducky noticed their party start to shift slightly at the table. It was getting late, but he had no desire to part from this woman yet. He had no desire to ever part from her, but that was hardly appropriate conversation yet. He led her back to the table silently.

"May I drive you home, my dear?" Ducky tried to mask the eagerness in his voice.

Susan looked over at Avery, who nodded with a not-so-subtle grin. She looked at Ducky and said softly, "I'd like that."

As he got into the driver's seat of his Morgan, after opening the door for Susan, he said as casually as he could, "I know this wonderful old pub close by. Would you care for a drink?"

Conversation went on long into the night. They spoke of Ducky's years of medical training, and Susan's work on poisons around the world.

"Might I ask why Avery called you SueAnn, but introduced you as Susan?" Ducky asked gently. Since she hadn't mentioned it during dinner, he thought it might be something too private to share on a first date. "I don't mean to pry…"

Her cheeks turned a slight pink. "Most people feel that I am too formal, as if…as if I'm always wearing a mask, she said, looking aside. "My full name is Susan Antonia, so Avery came up with SueAnn at university. And no one ever mentioned it to Daniel." She bowed her head and let a tear slip past as she talked about Daniel and his betrayal. They had met right after she had finished her PhD. She had begun to suspect that she was not ever going to get married, yet Daniel had been so insistent. He had managed to make her feel special, if a bit isolated from her friends, for over twenty years. "I'll never understand what I did to make it all go wrong," she said sadly.

Ducky lifted her chin gently. "Sometimes, my dear, it just goes wrong." He finally broached Afghanistan. He had been accused of war crimes, but discovered he had been set up to commit crimes that could be used against him later.

Tears swam in his eyes as he told the tale quietly, and all Susan could do was clasp his hand. No, she realized. She had no monopoly on pain.

She took his arm easily as he led her to her front door. "Now, my dear, we will have to coordinate our schedules," he began as they reached the steps. My "family" at NCIS will not let me keep you anonymous for long."

"Would you want to? Sometimes one wants to keep things for themselves," she offered.

Ducky looked down into her eyes, and saw the moon reflected there. How beautiful, he thought to himself.

"While I very much want to keep you for myself, my dear, I have no intention of keep you out of any part of my life."

He leaned over her lips and covered them with his. His hand went to her hair, dark and soft. His tongue wet her lips, and she opened to him, allowing him to explore her mouth. She tasted of orchards and soft leaves. _This is what heaven is like,_ Ducky thought.

She made a small cry in the back of her throat. All her life she had waited to be kissed this way. He was gentle, but his firmness spoke louder of his true feelings than any words. He was passionate, held tightly in check by breeding and kindness.

She saw the desire in his eyes as he pulled away. "Goodnight, my dear," he said simply.

"Goodnight, Ducky," Susan said softly.

NCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCISNCIS

The autopsy was exhausting. Ducky had had very few cases over the years where there had been so little learned after hours of pulling, tearing, and weighing. He had given Abby tissue and blood samples, but a thorough toxicology analysis would not be finished for days.

Gibbs walked into the autopsy lab with a cup of coffee. "Anything, Duck?" He looked straight at Ducky, and his attitude changed from business to concerned friendship. "Duck, you look terrible. Are you alright? Sit down for a sec."

Ducky stripped off his gloves as he sat down heavily. "I'm afraid I've been worrying myself to a frazzle, Jethro," he said with a sigh. "It would seem that every woman I've dated recently, with the exception of Jordan, has managed to turn up as a suspect in a crime. I'm sure Susan had nothing to do with this, but I have to admit to being concerned."

"Of course you are, Duck, that's normal." Gibbs said directly. "Did you come up with anything?"

Ducky shook his head. "Only that the cause of death was due to coronary infarction. But why a 30 year old otherwise healthy female has a heart attack is not evident. Oh, there is one thing, though."

The doctor walked over to the body. "Here, on her arm. A rash that I almost missed from the amount of bruising around it. The bruises are probably caused by her fall, but the rash looks to be contact dermatitis. I've sent scrapings of this skin to Abby for analysis, but if my theory is correct, and she was poisoned, I suspect that it entered her skin here."

"Good work, Duck." Gibbs said. "Now we have good reason to suspect murder."


End file.
